Dear Madame X, I have just started seeing this girl. She seems great, but she recently told me she had slept with over 30 guys. I find this gross and am really put off her. What should I do? Grossed Out Dear Grossed Out, Everyone has a different threshold for which they are grossed out ...
Tales of the City, the first of Amistead Maupin’s series of six novels, was originally serialized in 1978 with the final installment appearing in 2010. It’s likely you’ve heard of the series, if not read the books. Viewed through the eyes of Mary Anne Singleton, a young woman, from what the reader is meant to ...
Neil Strauss’s The Game fell into my hands by accident, the way most strange and slightly sticky things do. You might have heard of this book. It was a New York Times bestseller for a worrying two months in 2005. Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia was apparently based on the material printed on the 486 ...
“Jingle pills!” was the headline that woke me out of my stupor after a 10-hour overnight flight from the other end of the world. “Good grief, what’s this,” I thought to myself as I picked up the paper and jumped on a train home. Turns out that Life, a rather unimaginatively named British pro-life group, ...
Last August, an Alberta teen was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual assault after being accused of having unprotected sex without disclosing her HIV-positive status. Under Canada’s Criminal Code, it is a criminal offense to transmit or expose another person to HIV through unprotected sex or drug injecting equipment if one’s HIV-positive status had not ...
There was no shortage of debate in the latter half of the 20th century over the relevance of marriage. The freedoms women campaigned for — wage equality, childcare — were based on the idea of autonomy. The right not to marry was a key freedom. Thanks to previous generations, I’m not required to define myself ...
Dear Madame X, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I have a lover I see whenever I want and a career that fulfills me. Everything is going along perfectly but it doesn’t feel like enough. I refuse to cheat, but lately the idea has developed some appeal. I want to bring another man into the ...
Dear Madame X, My brother’s friend has HIV. He’s a great kid but when he was diagnosed it really messed with his head. He went from a good kid to a bad one, but I know that inside there is still a good heart. Last night my brother told me that he doesn’t know ...
So, you’re with a guy. Maybe you met just a few hours ago, or maybe he’s that cute guy from the IT department you’ve been flirting with for the last few months, but you’ve finally invited him back to your place for sex. He looks really cute and you’ve been waiting to tear into him ...
Anal sex has been declared a feminist issue. Abortion and the ”low-commitment peer sexual culture” that it spawned are to blame for women being disempowered, having sex simply to please their boyfriends, and causing all kinds of mental health problems. In this article, Maggie Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage, focuses specifically on anal sex as ...
So, we’re having this baby. It’s due in a few weeks and we’re trying to get organized with all...
I recently heard about what is claimed to be the rising phenomenon of Japanese men remaining virgins for longer...
Ladders. Patriarchal conspiracy. I’ll explain… This week I climbed a ladder. I was trying to reach a loft space,...
Dear Madame X, My boyfriend needs to look at porn while we have sex. It bothers me because I...
Mrs. Dalloway is yet another feminist classic that I had to grow into. Wrapped up in Woolf’s instantly recognizable...
Last week saw a Big Thing come to our soggy little island. Well, it was a Big Thing for...
Last weekend I was entertaining a guest, you know, the sort I was planning to have lots and lots...
All little girls want to be princesses… right?! It’s bad enough that toy aisles are separated out by what...
